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A Woman of Iron
Hannah Noble was only a kitchen maid in the ironmaster's house — a member of the family, but illegitimate. Joss Colby was just the manager of the ironworks, but ruthless and determined to be part of the revolution that was making British industry the leader of the world. Only one woman stood in his way.
Also published as The Tilthammer by Sheila Lancaster.
Also published as The Tilthammer by Sheila Lancaster.
256 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1980
2 people are currently reading
332 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Holland
29 books18 followersSheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 17, 2024
”How much did I hurt you?” he asked.
“Do you care? You hurt me because you wanted to! You enjoyed it.”
“Did you, Hannah?” he asked, watching her fixedly, a bead of perspiration rolling down his temple.
“I’m a bastard by birth, Joss Colby. You’re one from choice.”
Her angry face blazed in a transient beauty and he watched it with an almost satisfied expression.
“You’ll call me sir in the future, though, Hannah. You’ll call me sir now.”
He bent a smile on her, his face sardonic.
“You could beat me until your arm dropped off__I’d never call you sir.”
Five Fucked Up Stars for a Dark romance with a capital D by one of my favorite writers Charlotte Lamb a.k.a. Sheila Holland.
An anti-hero very much in the style of Marilyn Dennis’ Lord Eden (from This Other Eden) is pitted against a strong, smart and truly iron-spined heroine, all set in England’s Industrial Revolution era.
This is not a sweet historical romance with witty banter and glasses of ratafia passed around on a silver tray. The story starts with the obsessed hero setting up the defiant heroine for an agonizing, public cane whipping and it goes from there. There is debauchery, death, gloom and doom galore. I loved it :)
“Do you care? You hurt me because you wanted to! You enjoyed it.”
“Did you, Hannah?” he asked, watching her fixedly, a bead of perspiration rolling down his temple.
“I’m a bastard by birth, Joss Colby. You’re one from choice.”
Her angry face blazed in a transient beauty and he watched it with an almost satisfied expression.
“You’ll call me sir in the future, though, Hannah. You’ll call me sir now.”
He bent a smile on her, his face sardonic.
“You could beat me until your arm dropped off__I’d never call you sir.”
Five Fucked Up Stars for a Dark romance with a capital D by one of my favorite writers Charlotte Lamb a.k.a. Sheila Holland.
An anti-hero very much in the style of Marilyn Dennis’ Lord Eden (from This Other Eden) is pitted against a strong, smart and truly iron-spined heroine, all set in England’s Industrial Revolution era.
This is not a sweet historical romance with witty banter and glasses of ratafia passed around on a silver tray. The story starts with the obsessed hero setting up the defiant heroine for an agonizing, public cane whipping and it goes from there. There is debauchery, death, gloom and doom galore. I loved it :)
July 13, 2019
What can I say about this book but that I liked it and I didn’t at the same time. I love anti hero’s but this guy cheated regardless of his reason and had a child with that same detestable woman. He wasn’t bothered about the child at all as he had so many other illegitimate children floating about that he didn’t care about either! His sleeping with his wife didn’t bother me as much as him sleeping with Nancy (ow) before and after his marriage with h did as I felt it somehow diminished his obsession with h and it also made him look weak. I liked the h though she was strong and stuck to her principles of not falling for his “charms” like all the ow did. Saying that I don’t know how she wasn’t all that bothered about her husband having so many of his other children including the one with the ow always being in her face. I do believe he loves h as much as he is able but he is also weak and greedy so in the future I wouldn’t put it past him to be unfaithful as he seems to not be able to control his libido if he does without for too long. I just didn’t like him and apart from one or two incidents where he showed he did care for h he did nothing else to redeem himself apart from showing what a whore he was and not caring how many women he got pregnant. This guy obviously didn’t care for the withdrawal method!
Update;
I have re read this quite a few times and it’s one of the few books where I have changed my mind and the rating to 4* rather than 3*.
Upon re read I don’t believe he will cheat on h because that guy is seriously obsessed with h. I do think the only reason he turned to ow was because he knew h wouldn’t give in to him. Did I like the fact he cheated? NO!! At the same time I had to bear in mind this guy was selfish and very self centred who had never loved anyone or felt loved even by his family. I think the realisation that he actually loved h and that was why he was so obsessed with her will stop him from cheating. He also realises his wife is a strong woman and no way will she put up with his infidelity so I don’t believe he will risk her when he has everything he always wanted which included the h. This story for some reason always makes me come back to do a re read so I think it’s def 4* mainly because the h is such a strong and likeable woman.
Update;
I have re read this quite a few times and it’s one of the few books where I have changed my mind and the rating to 4* rather than 3*.
Upon re read I don’t believe he will cheat on h because that guy is seriously obsessed with h. I do think the only reason he turned to ow was because he knew h wouldn’t give in to him. Did I like the fact he cheated? NO!! At the same time I had to bear in mind this guy was selfish and very self centred who had never loved anyone or felt loved even by his family. I think the realisation that he actually loved h and that was why he was so obsessed with her will stop him from cheating. He also realises his wife is a strong woman and no way will she put up with his infidelity so I don’t believe he will risk her when he has everything he always wanted which included the h. This story for some reason always makes me come back to do a re read so I think it’s def 4* mainly because the h is such a strong and likeable woman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2019
This title is spot on, when Charlotte Lamb gives a girl a backbone it is Titanium Steel and idiotic male leads will be sorry.
Awesome book, but the H in this is a nemtode slime slurper. I don't care tho, cause Hannah was amazing.
Awesome book, but the H in this is a nemtode slime slurper. I don't care tho, cause Hannah was amazing.
May 19, 2022
Woman of Iron is also published as The Tilthammer by Sheila Lancaster/Sheila Holland. I prefer the title The Tilthammer.
The story begins with the Shields, the owner of mill which has made iron for generations. The iron master Henry Shield employs Joss Colby, the hero, by his intellect. Colby is the son of a blacksmith. He has always been a dedicated and strong worker, and becoming best friends with the master himself who also considers marrying his only daughter to Colby. The extend of Colby's dedication is shocking which we come to see as we turn pages. While we are attracted to his brutishness, the maids fall head over heels for him, him fathering many bastards but the heroine, Hannah Noble (19), knows him better than anyone, how, just by gazing him at his unguarded moment. Hannah is a fine heroine of her time, she is honest, straight-forward and forgiving. She is brought to work for the Shields after her mother passes away. Working for Shields were part of punishment and degradation she has to face for the sins her mother committed as per Mary Shield, Henry's wife.
Hannah is the illegitimate daughter of Henry's older brother, after he dies of fever her mother then becomes the mistress of Henry for which Mary has become bitter to Hannah seeking the perfect revenge by making her a servant of the Shields after Mary dies. When Colby comes to work for the Shields he has an aim to become something bigger but his aims keep having an obstacle, Hannah, she detests him and knows what he plans. Colby is attracted to Hannah, he admires her and is also annoyed by her. Colby is the main trickery of this whole plot. He takes over the Mill, gets the girl and chases away her admirers so far that forget 10-foot poll an infinity-length poll won't be able to touch them from Hannah.
Colby is as he is because of poverty, an abusive father and a soft hearted mother who loved his abusive father. Colby has a kink, he likes to inflict pain while having pleasure. Hannah is his true match: mentally and sexually although they don't have sex until the last 10 pages.
Jabey has my utmost affection. If not for Colby Jabey and Hannah would have a HEA and there is Caroline, she was used and her life was wasted; thus a few lives destroyed for Colby's means.
As usual I'm attracted to books with dirt and ruggedness, less of tea parties and changing hundreds of gowns a day.
The story begins with the Shields, the owner of mill which has made iron for generations. The iron master Henry Shield employs Joss Colby, the hero, by his intellect. Colby is the son of a blacksmith. He has always been a dedicated and strong worker, and becoming best friends with the master himself who also considers marrying his only daughter to Colby. The extend of Colby's dedication is shocking which we come to see as we turn pages. While we are attracted to his brutishness, the maids fall head over heels for him, him fathering many bastards but the heroine, Hannah Noble (19), knows him better than anyone, how, just by gazing him at his unguarded moment. Hannah is a fine heroine of her time, she is honest, straight-forward and forgiving. She is brought to work for the Shields after her mother passes away. Working for Shields were part of punishment and degradation she has to face for the sins her mother committed as per Mary Shield, Henry's wife.
Hannah is the illegitimate daughter of Henry's older brother, after he dies of fever her mother then becomes the mistress of Henry for which Mary has become bitter to Hannah seeking the perfect revenge by making her a servant of the Shields after Mary dies. When Colby comes to work for the Shields he has an aim to become something bigger but his aims keep having an obstacle, Hannah, she detests him and knows what he plans. Colby is attracted to Hannah, he admires her and is also annoyed by her. Colby is the main trickery of this whole plot. He takes over the Mill, gets the girl and chases away her admirers so far that forget 10-foot poll an infinity-length poll won't be able to touch them from Hannah.
Colby is as he is because of poverty, an abusive father and a soft hearted mother who loved his abusive father. Colby has a kink, he likes to inflict pain while having pleasure. Hannah is his true match: mentally and sexually although they don't have sex until the last 10 pages.
Jabey has my utmost affection. If not for Colby Jabey and Hannah would have a HEA and there is Caroline, she was used and her life was wasted; thus a few lives destroyed for Colby's means.
As usual I'm attracted to books with dirt and ruggedness, less of tea parties and changing hundreds of gowns a day.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2022
I read this almost 20 years ago when I was in my early teens. I would borrow the book from the public library a couple of times a year. It's just as good as I remember it. The book content is problematic in today's context (dub con) but this was written in the 70s so this was common back then. Joss is not an easy character to like and I believe the author didn't mean for the readers to like him. He is a violent and a reprehensible person. He would do anything to get what he wants short of murder. Oh, but Hannah is the star of this story. She is literally a woman of iron. She gives as good as she gets so she is on equal footing with Joss. She didn't see Joss through rose coloured glasses. She knew who he was. The setting of this book is centered in an iron mill so it's really different and feels like breath of fresh air. The writing is really good that it literally sucks you in from the first page. The writing feels very authentic to the period. I wouldn't call this book a romance novel. It feels more like a woman's fiction.
Thank you @Olnega for sparking my memory of this book. I relish the walk down memory lane.
Thank you @Olnega for sparking my memory of this book. I relish the walk down memory lane.
avoid
August 28, 2022Self note avoid
Eevee had spoilers.
"- hero has other bastard children he ignores
- hero seduces Shields’ daughter to get their mill (while in love with Hannah)
- hero marries and impregnates Shields’ daughter (while in love with Hannah)
- hero rapes a servant girl (while in love with Hannah)
- servant girl gets pregnant, but hero doesn’t care and offers no help
- hero continues to have sex with servant girl (while in love with Hannah)"
- The h becomes aroused watching the H having sex with that servant girl.
- MCs don't have sex until the last few pages.
Eevee had spoilers.
"- hero has other bastard children he ignores
- hero seduces Shields’ daughter to get their mill (while in love with Hannah)
- hero marries and impregnates Shields’ daughter (while in love with Hannah)
- hero rapes a servant girl (while in love with Hannah)
- servant girl gets pregnant, but hero doesn’t care and offers no help
- hero continues to have sex with servant girl (while in love with Hannah)"
- The h becomes aroused watching the H having sex with that servant girl.
- MCs don't have sex until the last few pages.
Want to read
August 16, 2023How’d I forget this one by Charlotte Lamb; published as
on my tbr shelve 😱
And a cheating sheister, at that 💅🏼
pseudonyms:
Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf and Laura Hardy, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Holland
on my tbr shelve 😱And a cheating sheister, at that 💅🏼
pseudonyms:
Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf and Laura Hardy, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Holland
May 1, 2023
3 Stars
What the hell kind of HEA was that? I can't even. You end it with a rape? I don't care that the heroine ultimately gave in to passion and they both burned with desire, that was still rape (he even slapped her), and although I love anti-heroes and dark romance themes, I don't want the story to end like that. AND so abruptly, too! I kept tapping the screen on my iPad to turn the page and thought there was a glitch, because I couldn't believe that was the end. How disappointing. That was the only sex scene between them. Joss had more sex with other women (on page) than he had with Hannah. Honestly, he was just vile, I couldn't even call him a hero. There was no romance in this book. No redemption, either. I skim-read because the story kept veering off in other directions. So much detail about so much stuff I had zero interest in. Details about some of the secondary characters and their lives that frankly were completely unnecessary. Andrew's (Hannah's admirer) mother was ewwww. Also, quite a few people died here, tragically. Charlotte Lamb must have been really mad at someone when she wrote this. [Sheila Holland and Charlotte Lamb are the same. This book also goes by another title: Woman of Iron. I read The Tilthammer on Open Library.] Initially, I had really liked Hannah because she was indeed a woman of iron...but that was only when it came to Joss. With everyone else, Hannah was a martyr and a Mary Sue. I rolled my eyes when she'd risk her life to help her enemies, and they didn't even appreciate her help.
Why didn't I DNF? I had high hopes it would all work out at the end. I'm on a reading slump and been dnf-ing lately. 😭 If it wasn't for the writing, I would have given this less stars. I appreciate authors who write anti-heroes even if it didn't work for me here. The Silver Devil is much, much better. 🖤
What the hell kind of HEA was that? I can't even. You end it with a rape? I don't care that the heroine ultimately gave in to passion and they both burned with desire, that was still rape (he even slapped her), and although I love anti-heroes and dark romance themes, I don't want the story to end like that. AND so abruptly, too! I kept tapping the screen on my iPad to turn the page and thought there was a glitch, because I couldn't believe that was the end. How disappointing. That was the only sex scene between them. Joss had more sex with other women (on page) than he had with Hannah. Honestly, he was just vile, I couldn't even call him a hero. There was no romance in this book. No redemption, either. I skim-read because the story kept veering off in other directions. So much detail about so much stuff I had zero interest in. Details about some of the secondary characters and their lives that frankly were completely unnecessary. Andrew's (Hannah's admirer) mother was ewwww. Also, quite a few people died here, tragically. Charlotte Lamb must have been really mad at someone when she wrote this. [Sheila Holland and Charlotte Lamb are the same. This book also goes by another title: Woman of Iron. I read The Tilthammer on Open Library.] Initially, I had really liked Hannah because she was indeed a woman of iron...but that was only when it came to Joss. With everyone else, Hannah was a martyr and a Mary Sue. I rolled my eyes when she'd risk her life to help her enemies, and they didn't even appreciate her help.
Why didn't I DNF? I had high hopes it would all work out at the end. I'm on a reading slump and been dnf-ing lately. 😭 If it wasn't for the writing, I would have given this less stars. I appreciate authors who write anti-heroes even if it didn't work for me here. The Silver Devil is much, much better. 🖤
June 21, 2018
A great story, with a strong and very likable h, it's a shame the guy who was supposed to be the H was a heartless pig!
November 30, 2020
I updated/deleted my original review. I have no clue why I liked this book the first time round. The "hero" is a man-child with really bad mommy issues. He never grovels and apologizes for all the fucked up things he does, he just takes, owns and beats down.
December 31, 2021
I really have to bump this up to a 5 star read. It took me awhile to get my head around it first. I am so used to rakes and bad boys being reformed or secretly having a heart of gold and all end up with an HEA. This is the only book, that I have read anyways, where the H is ambitious, ruthless, violent, conniving and all the things you can think of AND he wins in the end. When I first read the book I had such a hard time grasping that concept.
Let's break it down: The H works to become a mine owner's right hand man. He then schemes to marry the daughter so he can inherit all of that wealth and power. He has bastards running all over the place as is noted by the h that you could see kids with his face in the village. BTW, he doesn't support these women and their kids. After all, if they were stupid enough to give it up to him then they can deal with the consequences. He both likes to give and receive pain both in and out of the bed. He could give two f*cks about anything or anyone except...
We know he is working hard to buy a home for his mother so she can become a lady of leisure. He feels she deserves it after living a dogs life giving birth to...8? 12? kids (only 3 of whom live) and having an abusive husband thrown into the mix. We know that he was beaten by his father until the day he stood up to him and basically broke him and when he died he thought "relief" only to then feel confused, angry and betrayed by the fact that his mother MOURNED his father's death. When asked how she could mourn such a b*stard her response? She loved him. So we see that while he loves his mother, he also has no respect for her/women in general who allow themselves to be used. An attitude that he takes with every woman he encounters/sleeps with. We see him drive himself relentlessly as he becomes a self made man.
Then he meets his match in Hannah. A young woman who sees him for what he is, knows what he is thinking/planning just by watching him and detests him thoroughly for his cruelty (both casual and planned). What's more, he knows she knows. And she knows he knows. They understand each other on a basic level and hence, the battle begins.
Joss tries hard to break Hannah including whipping her for supposedly breaking his glass at the dinner table but in reality for her refusal to show him respect and call him "sir." To say he gets off on the whipping (he is the one who holds the cane) is an understatement.
But the story is also more than that. It has some real insight into human thoughts, actions and how we are shaped by events around us from the moment we are born into becoming the person we are. The book is full of memorable utterances, most especially from Joss which really give insight into how he thinks and operates:
"You're stronger."
"Am I?" He looked almost as though she had insulted him, his eyes dark with temper. "And must I pay for that, too? It's easy for the weak, Hannah. They lie down and cry, 'I cannot,' and everyone murmurs, 'Poor soul,' and lets them be. But if your shoulders are broad enough, they load them with everything they can and tell you, 'You're strong, you can bear it.' "
And this:
"Pray God it comes soon, then," Joss said. "Do you believe in God, Joss Colby?" He looked at her in surprise, then smiled, "I've learnt to believe in one thing only; myself. Everything else fails." He walked to the door. "I'm no man to crawl on my belly to a God I can neither see nor touch. I trust my senses and my brain, Hannah. I'll stand on my own two feet and spit in the eye of fate. If I fail, it is I who fails, not some unseen Deity. There's comfort in that even if it is a cold philosophy."
In the end, like Hannah, I got Joss Colby. I understood where he was coming from so while I thought his actions, especially towards women (well, mostly his illegitimate children) reprehensible, I got it. Because we learn bits and pieces about Joss along the way and what makes him tick. Does he change? Heck no he doesn't change. Because he will always want, nothing will be enough for him.
But there's also Hannah. Like Joss, she also will always work to thwart Joss when he works to harm others.
I only wish that Sheila Holland/Charlotte Lamb had wrote a sequel. The book ends with us KNOWING without a doubt, that Joss will continue to try to crush people under his boot heel. We also know without a doubt that Hannah will do everything to thwart him. We also know that some secondary characters who "lost this round" against Joss could just as well come back swinging. Most likely with Hannah's blessing if not outright assistance.
It was fascinating reading this book after having read a lot of Charlotte Lamb's Harlequin romances. She doesn't pull her punches in "Tilthammer" and yet for all of it's in your face actions, she has interspersed it with some truly thought provoking writing.
Let's break it down: The H works to become a mine owner's right hand man. He then schemes to marry the daughter so he can inherit all of that wealth and power. He has bastards running all over the place as is noted by the h that you could see kids with his face in the village. BTW, he doesn't support these women and their kids. After all, if they were stupid enough to give it up to him then they can deal with the consequences. He both likes to give and receive pain both in and out of the bed. He could give two f*cks about anything or anyone except...
We know he is working hard to buy a home for his mother so she can become a lady of leisure. He feels she deserves it after living a dogs life giving birth to...8? 12? kids (only 3 of whom live) and having an abusive husband thrown into the mix. We know that he was beaten by his father until the day he stood up to him and basically broke him and when he died he thought "relief" only to then feel confused, angry and betrayed by the fact that his mother MOURNED his father's death. When asked how she could mourn such a b*stard her response? She loved him. So we see that while he loves his mother, he also has no respect for her/women in general who allow themselves to be used. An attitude that he takes with every woman he encounters/sleeps with. We see him drive himself relentlessly as he becomes a self made man.
Then he meets his match in Hannah. A young woman who sees him for what he is, knows what he is thinking/planning just by watching him and detests him thoroughly for his cruelty (both casual and planned). What's more, he knows she knows. And she knows he knows. They understand each other on a basic level and hence, the battle begins.
Joss tries hard to break Hannah including whipping her for supposedly breaking his glass at the dinner table but in reality for her refusal to show him respect and call him "sir." To say he gets off on the whipping (he is the one who holds the cane) is an understatement.
But the story is also more than that. It has some real insight into human thoughts, actions and how we are shaped by events around us from the moment we are born into becoming the person we are. The book is full of memorable utterances, most especially from Joss which really give insight into how he thinks and operates:
"You're stronger."
"Am I?" He looked almost as though she had insulted him, his eyes dark with temper. "And must I pay for that, too? It's easy for the weak, Hannah. They lie down and cry, 'I cannot,' and everyone murmurs, 'Poor soul,' and lets them be. But if your shoulders are broad enough, they load them with everything they can and tell you, 'You're strong, you can bear it.' "
And this:
"Pray God it comes soon, then," Joss said. "Do you believe in God, Joss Colby?" He looked at her in surprise, then smiled, "I've learnt to believe in one thing only; myself. Everything else fails." He walked to the door. "I'm no man to crawl on my belly to a God I can neither see nor touch. I trust my senses and my brain, Hannah. I'll stand on my own two feet and spit in the eye of fate. If I fail, it is I who fails, not some unseen Deity. There's comfort in that even if it is a cold philosophy."
In the end, like Hannah, I got Joss Colby. I understood where he was coming from so while I thought his actions, especially towards women (well, mostly his illegitimate children) reprehensible, I got it. Because we learn bits and pieces about Joss along the way and what makes him tick. Does he change? Heck no he doesn't change. Because he will always want, nothing will be enough for him.
But there's also Hannah. Like Joss, she also will always work to thwart Joss when he works to harm others.
I only wish that Sheila Holland/Charlotte Lamb had wrote a sequel. The book ends with us KNOWING without a doubt, that Joss will continue to try to crush people under his boot heel. We also know without a doubt that Hannah will do everything to thwart him. We also know that some secondary characters who "lost this round" against Joss could just as well come back swinging. Most likely with Hannah's blessing if not outright assistance.
It was fascinating reading this book after having read a lot of Charlotte Lamb's Harlequin romances. She doesn't pull her punches in "Tilthammer" and yet for all of it's in your face actions, she has interspersed it with some truly thought provoking writing.
wishlist
June 21, 2022Put this on my wishlist because I adore Sheila Holland (Charlotte Lamb.) I prefer the cover for the alternate title version of Woman of Iron.
However, my inner middle schooler can't help but giggle at the title. Tilthammer.
I mean...so many things can be done with this. Personally, I look at Tilthammer as a guy with a crooked penis whose a power top slamming it in.
Or Twathammer, the name of Jesse Pinkman's band (from Breaking Bad).
Either way, not a good name for a romance.
However, my inner middle schooler can't help but giggle at the title. Tilthammer.
I mean...so many things can be done with this. Personally, I look at Tilthammer as a guy with a crooked penis whose a power top slamming it in.
Or Twathammer, the name of Jesse Pinkman's band (from Breaking Bad).
Either way, not a good name for a romance.
February 23, 2024
4.5 stars. Lottie told me I had to read and she was so right. Bastard kitchen maid heroine and self made man hero in the 18th century.
I have no idea how the author fit everything into 254 pages. So much happened. Vivid cast of characters. Several different plots.
Joss was everything I want in a hero. He’s a monster of a man who is obsessed with the heroine. I thought the heroine was excellent and she was a great match for the hero.
I have no idea how the author fit everything into 254 pages. So much happened. Vivid cast of characters. Several different plots.
Joss was everything I want in a hero. He’s a monster of a man who is obsessed with the heroine. I thought the heroine was excellent and she was a great match for the hero.
February 18, 2025
literally what the hell was that
June 19, 2024
(3.5 stars, rounded up because of just how batshit it was.)
I don't know what the fuck this is, but it sure as hell isn't romance - and it's exactly what I needed right now. A real bodice-ripper, an interpersonal drama that reads like a soap opera at times. The sort of love story that reminds you that Aphrodite wasn't a loving, comforting figure; she was actually kind of a dick.
Sometimes you don't need romance. Sometimes you need a awful, irredeemable turd of a man doing awful, irredeemable turd things.
I don't know what the fuck this is, but it sure as hell isn't romance - and it's exactly what I needed right now. A real bodice-ripper, an interpersonal drama that reads like a soap opera at times. The sort of love story that reminds you that Aphrodite wasn't a loving, comforting figure; she was actually kind of a dick.
Sometimes you don't need romance. Sometimes you need a awful, irredeemable turd of a man doing awful, irredeemable turd things.
April 9, 2021
I did not liked the book at all. The H is the biggest manhore of all time! He just come and goes, screwing almost every girl in the village. No prizes to guess how long he's gonna stay faithful to the h.
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March 16, 2023
He is the worst H that I have ever come across in the 40+ years that I am reading romances.
I don’t find her strong. He whipped her, he cheated on her several times with another woman, he slaps her in her face when she tries to stop him raping her.
And then after he entered her while she is fighting him, she suddenly puts her arms around him and tells him she loves him. In what universe is that “strong”?
On the last page she thinks to herself that she can stop him in his deceitful ways. She is delusional.
The “romance” is one star, but it is such excellent writing that i give it two stars.
I don’t find her strong. He whipped her, he cheated on her several times with another woman, he slaps her in her face when she tries to stop him raping her.
And then after he entered her while she is fighting him, she suddenly puts her arms around him and tells him she loves him. In what universe is that “strong”?
On the last page she thinks to herself that she can stop him in his deceitful ways. She is delusional.
The “romance” is one star, but it is such excellent writing that i give it two stars.
December 6, 2025
Congratulations on choosing strife
Want to read
May 12, 2022Note to self: I have this under the title 'The Tilthammer.'
April 14, 2021
Hannah is a servant for the Shields, who run the ironworks. Joss is an up-and-comer in iron, and begins to steadily take over the Shields’ business because he thinks he can innovate it. Joss and Hannah experience immediate attraction, but also hate. Joss wants to make her his mistress yet Hannah refuses, and the book follows them in this push-and-pull game.
First of all, we need to talk about the hero. 1/5 stars. Let’s go down the list about why:
- hero has other bastard children he ignores
- hero seduces Shields’ daughter to get their mill (while in love with Hannah)
- hero marries and impregnates Shields’ daughter (while in love with Hannah)
- hero rapes a servant girl (while in love with Hannah)
- servant girl gets pregnant, but hero doesn’t care and offers no help
- hero continues to have sex with servant girl (while in love with Hannah)
So, to summarize, this ‘hero’ is callous, cruel, narcissistic, and quite violent. He lacks any honor or morals. Even the things he does care about —namely the mill — are all material goods, and his priority is NEVER Hannah. She is always last to his aspirations, and he had sex with basically all the other female characters in lieu of her.
The heroine is not much better; she gets aroused by the hero sexually assaulting other women... because yes, she was there and said nothing but watched in fascination. This is all justified because the servant girl is known for being a “whore.”
Besides all that stupidity, the writing was nice. I liked the heroine when she wasn’t defending male characters for sexually assaulting people. She seemed to match well with Joss because they are both quite selfish and callous. As far as romance goes, it was a very slow burn and they only have sex the last couple of pages. Not chapters — PAGES.
If you are not dissuaded by genuinely cruel heroes or any of the above, then you will enjoy the book I think. This is definitely old-fashioned, even for historical romances. I wouldn’t reread this or keep it.
First of all, we need to talk about the hero. 1/5 stars. Let’s go down the list about why:
- hero has other bastard children he ignores
- hero seduces Shields’ daughter to get their mill (while in love with Hannah)
- hero marries and impregnates Shields’ daughter (while in love with Hannah)
- hero rapes a servant girl (while in love with Hannah)
- servant girl gets pregnant, but hero doesn’t care and offers no help
- hero continues to have sex with servant girl (while in love with Hannah)
So, to summarize, this ‘hero’ is callous, cruel, narcissistic, and quite violent. He lacks any honor or morals. Even the things he does care about —namely the mill — are all material goods, and his priority is NEVER Hannah. She is always last to his aspirations, and he had sex with basically all the other female characters in lieu of her.
The heroine is not much better; she gets aroused by the hero sexually assaulting other women... because yes, she was there and said nothing but watched in fascination. This is all justified because the servant girl is known for being a “whore.”
Besides all that stupidity, the writing was nice. I liked the heroine when she wasn’t defending male characters for sexually assaulting people. She seemed to match well with Joss because they are both quite selfish and callous. As far as romance goes, it was a very slow burn and they only have sex the last couple of pages. Not chapters — PAGES.
If you are not dissuaded by genuinely cruel heroes or any of the above, then you will enjoy the book I think. This is definitely old-fashioned, even for historical romances. I wouldn’t reread this or keep it.
October 19, 2022
OMG this book! In a way its like a train wreck because I couldn’t stop reading!
Its not a romance, its too hard and gritty for that. The Hero is an anti-Hero, a domineering ambitious adulterous jerk, that would not let anything stop his quest for power and wealth.
He is obsessed with the heroine, but this doesn’t stop him from marrying her cousin, then having an affair with another woman while married to the heroine. He schemes, plots and manipulates everything to his advantage.
The heroine is a strong compassionate woman, who deserves better. The whole book is filled with sexual tension between them.
THEN BAM!!! it ends abruptly when they finally have sex! I was expecting a chapter or two more 😭
Its not a romance, its too hard and gritty for that. The Hero is an anti-Hero, a domineering ambitious adulterous jerk, that would not let anything stop his quest for power and wealth.
He is obsessed with the heroine, but this doesn’t stop him from marrying her cousin, then having an affair with another woman while married to the heroine. He schemes, plots and manipulates everything to his advantage.
The heroine is a strong compassionate woman, who deserves better. The whole book is filled with sexual tension between them.
THEN BAM!!! it ends abruptly when they finally have sex! I was expecting a chapter or two more 😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 3, 2023
This book was terrible. It was well written but I guess I did not go in thinking this book was going to be like it was.
I read
Dark romances and this is definitely one. I wasn't expecting it to be. He was so abusive. Damn.
I read
Dark romances and this is definitely one. I wasn't expecting it to be. He was so abusive. Damn.
February 6, 2021
If you can stomache reading about an unrepentant rapist (screams and all) who gets exacty what he wants by the end of the story, then give this a read. He does not pay for his wrongdoings nor does he grovel. Oh, and a few (read:many) atheist musings to spice this up.
August 11, 2018
Great read, would give it five stars because I love cruel H and strong h-books but this hero was awful not worthy in any way of h and I hated the ending, it was abrupt and left me w feeling cheated.
April 24, 2023
First half of this book: 👍😀✅🥳
Rest: 🫤🤨😐😵
Rest: 🫤🤨😐😵
September 24, 2025
I really enjoyed this book, in fact, it left enough of an impression that I’m actually writing something that half resembles a review, which is normally not my strongest point…
Woman of Iron or Tilthammer by Sheila Lancaster/ Sheila Holland is set in the late 18th century around rural Birmingham, the story follows Hannah Noble, the illegitimate daughter of an iron master. Her mother, schoolmaster’s daughter, threw aside convention and became Shield’s mistress. After her death, Hannah ends up working as a servant at Shields House under the cold, watchful eye of the iron master’s wife Mary Shields. Mary hated Hannah’s mother, and now she’s making Hannah’s life miserable. Her husband, who is also Hannah’s uncle, is too weak to step in, letting his wife abuse Hannah just to keep the peace at home.
The Shield ironworks pretty much rules the whole district, and the tension in the forge, in the household, and even in the nearby Manor House run parallel all through the book.
Hannah is the heroine that made this book a success for me, she is intelligent, tough, and determined. She’s the only one who truly sees through Joss’s ruthless ambition and constantly calls him out, provoking him and reminding him that he can’t control her. He detests her for it, yet he also loves her, and that love feels like a weakness he doesn’t want but can’t shake, leaving him obsessed with Hannah.
Joss is a manager at the ironworks, tough man, who embodies ruthless ambition with moral values that easily bend to his goals. He despises weakness, and his credo is that only the strongest survive. I hated him for the most of the book and strangely not because of his mistreatment of Hannah (she could always stand up to him) but because of how he treated people who were kinder, weaker, less ruthless than him, Jabey in particular. But, I’ll give him a credit where it’s due, because Joss is always clear and transparent in his need to dominate and succeed. He doesn’t prevaricate and often speak the hard truths others won’t. For example, when he tells Hannah that it wasn’t him who destroyed Nancy but her husband, whose kindness exposed her true rotten nature, it was harsh but true.
I feel it’s necessary to add that there’s a lot of Joss sleeping around and not caring about the offsprings he leaves behind. Although cheating is a big no for me, strangely it wasn’t a major issue here. Of course, he was despicable, but it was all part of his personality and meant nothing to him, he simply took what he could when he couldn’t have Hannah. In his own words: “When I am hungry, I eat.”
The book is packed with tension. While Hannah and Joss are at the center, the supporting cast is always at boiling point too. There’s rape, murder, infidelity, household drama, clashes between Joss and the workers at the iron mill, his ongoing hostility with Jabey, Hannah’s childhood friend who is also in love with her. It all makes for a very intense read.
I wouldn’t call it a romance, more historical women’s fiction (if there is such a thing 🤔). For me, it was a hint of Thomas Hardy, a large helping of Catherine Cookson with a special Charlotte Lamb twist. I want more ….📚
Woman of Iron or Tilthammer by Sheila Lancaster/ Sheila Holland is set in the late 18th century around rural Birmingham, the story follows Hannah Noble, the illegitimate daughter of an iron master. Her mother, schoolmaster’s daughter, threw aside convention and became Shield’s mistress. After her death, Hannah ends up working as a servant at Shields House under the cold, watchful eye of the iron master’s wife Mary Shields. Mary hated Hannah’s mother, and now she’s making Hannah’s life miserable. Her husband, who is also Hannah’s uncle, is too weak to step in, letting his wife abuse Hannah just to keep the peace at home.
The Shield ironworks pretty much rules the whole district, and the tension in the forge, in the household, and even in the nearby Manor House run parallel all through the book.
Hannah is the heroine that made this book a success for me, she is intelligent, tough, and determined. She’s the only one who truly sees through Joss’s ruthless ambition and constantly calls him out, provoking him and reminding him that he can’t control her. He detests her for it, yet he also loves her, and that love feels like a weakness he doesn’t want but can’t shake, leaving him obsessed with Hannah.
Joss is a manager at the ironworks, tough man, who embodies ruthless ambition with moral values that easily bend to his goals. He despises weakness, and his credo is that only the strongest survive. I hated him for the most of the book and strangely not because of his mistreatment of Hannah (she could always stand up to him) but because of how he treated people who were kinder, weaker, less ruthless than him, Jabey in particular. But, I’ll give him a credit where it’s due, because Joss is always clear and transparent in his need to dominate and succeed. He doesn’t prevaricate and often speak the hard truths others won’t. For example, when he tells Hannah that it wasn’t him who destroyed Nancy but her husband, whose kindness exposed her true rotten nature, it was harsh but true.
I feel it’s necessary to add that there’s a lot of Joss sleeping around and not caring about the offsprings he leaves behind. Although cheating is a big no for me, strangely it wasn’t a major issue here. Of course, he was despicable, but it was all part of his personality and meant nothing to him, he simply took what he could when he couldn’t have Hannah. In his own words: “When I am hungry, I eat.”
The book is packed with tension. While Hannah and Joss are at the center, the supporting cast is always at boiling point too. There’s rape, murder, infidelity, household drama, clashes between Joss and the workers at the iron mill, his ongoing hostility with Jabey, Hannah’s childhood friend who is also in love with her. It all makes for a very intense read.
I wouldn’t call it a romance, more historical women’s fiction (if there is such a thing 🤔). For me, it was a hint of Thomas Hardy, a large helping of Catherine Cookson with a special Charlotte Lamb twist. I want more ….📚
May 11, 2025
WOMAN OF IRON is such an intense read. Any book that starts out with the hero whipping the heroine is automatically suspect (I see you, THIS OTHER EDEN). It's kind of a cross between THIS OTHER EDEN, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and LEMONADE, although it's not really as "romantic" as any of those books, as most of this love-hate relationship is spent with the dial resting firmly on "hate" and the hero and heroine don't even sleep together until twenty pages from the end (although the hero sleeps with plenty of other women, and the heroine has, like, two other dudes who want to get with her).
The plot is a little to complex to summarize, but basically the heroine is the illegitimate child of an ironworks owner and is raised by her uncle when he dies. The uncle's wife HATES her and everything she represents because when the dad died, uncle stepped in to be the mistress of wifey, and real wifey resents that on a deeply personal level, so she just spends a ton of time whipping the heroine. (Don't worry, she later dies of small pox lmao.) Then the hero whips the heroine because she won't call him sir and apparently defiance is his love language because the fact that she won't give in just makes him smile like a fool, even as he plans to break her. What a psycho.
I would love to get into the litany of misdeeds that happen in this book but I want to at least try to cross-post this book to Amazon. I will say that it has a lot of triggers, and there is violent assault and rape, and also small pox, and unpleasant deaths, and also murders. Midsomer would never. Part of me is in awe at what Charlotte Lamb was capable of under this imprint, and part of me is like, "Okay, but maybe also at least try to make some romance?" I wish there had been just a little more obsession of the passionate kind and some more scenes between the H and h beyond the one dub-con scene they had. The ending was SO abrupt also and didn't really provide any closure.
Brilliant characterization and a true bodice-ripper but not really a romance.
3.5 stars
The plot is a little to complex to summarize, but basically the heroine is the illegitimate child of an ironworks owner and is raised by her uncle when he dies. The uncle's wife HATES her and everything she represents because when the dad died, uncle stepped in to be the mistress of wifey, and real wifey resents that on a deeply personal level, so she just spends a ton of time whipping the heroine. (Don't worry, she later dies of small pox lmao.) Then the hero whips the heroine because she won't call him sir and apparently defiance is his love language because the fact that she won't give in just makes him smile like a fool, even as he plans to break her. What a psycho.
I would love to get into the litany of misdeeds that happen in this book but I want to at least try to cross-post this book to Amazon. I will say that it has a lot of triggers, and there is violent assault and rape, and also small pox, and unpleasant deaths, and also murders. Midsomer would never. Part of me is in awe at what Charlotte Lamb was capable of under this imprint, and part of me is like, "Okay, but maybe also at least try to make some romance?" I wish there had been just a little more obsession of the passionate kind and some more scenes between the H and h beyond the one dub-con scene they had. The ending was SO abrupt also and didn't really provide any closure.
Brilliant characterization and a true bodice-ripper but not really a romance.
3.5 stars
June 7, 2024
this book was good?
i say that as a question because i finished this book 10 minutes ago and my mind is reeling. i finished the last page and let out a puff of air i felt like i was holding in during the entire experience.
this book was a TRIP. it was wild, it was demented, it was dark. but it was entertaining as hell and the writing was excellent. there were so many lines i will enjoy showing my friends. Hannah was such a great heroine to follow, she was flawed but i liked her a ton. she had a great heart and i was very invested in her story.
this book was really f*cked up, and when i read This Other Eden and Lemonade i felt like there was a message or something to take away. this book just has me feeling empty. but in that way only a really good book can. the violence was senseless, but it made a hell of an entertaining book. take what you can out of this awful review, because i don’t even know myself what to think!!! EXCEPT - damn that was a well written, entertaining, and insane book.
i say that as a question because i finished this book 10 minutes ago and my mind is reeling. i finished the last page and let out a puff of air i felt like i was holding in during the entire experience.
this book was a TRIP. it was wild, it was demented, it was dark. but it was entertaining as hell and the writing was excellent. there were so many lines i will enjoy showing my friends. Hannah was such a great heroine to follow, she was flawed but i liked her a ton. she had a great heart and i was very invested in her story.
this book was really f*cked up, and when i read This Other Eden and Lemonade i felt like there was a message or something to take away. this book just has me feeling empty. but in that way only a really good book can. the violence was senseless, but it made a hell of an entertaining book. take what you can out of this awful review, because i don’t even know myself what to think!!! EXCEPT - damn that was a well written, entertaining, and insane book.
March 27, 2025
I love a dark romance as much as anyone but I literally have no idea why these two people like each other. They just do, apparently, and we have to accept that. They do not spend a single moment bonding in any capacity and I finished the book not knowing what either saw in the other.
It gets an extra star because I like the prose though.
It gets an extra star because I like the prose though.
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